In a new study, researchers report people who have experienced an aneurysm have another reason to quit smoking.

A history of smoking significantly increases the chance that survivors will experience recurrence of a brain aneurysm, according to a University of Michigan study.

Researchers say it’s a serious reminder about the importance of smoking cessation, especially for patients who undergo endovascular aneurysm treatment.

“There was an almost threefold increase of aneurysm recurrence for smokers,” says senior author B. Gregory Thompson, M.D., a neurosurgeon at Michigan Medicine. “We must make a much more profound attempt to convince patients they have to stop smoking.”

The researchers studied 247 patients who experienced 296 cerebral aneurysms, separating them into groups: current, former and never smokers.